ID please

ID #1

No luck with this one on the ID forum, so hopefully somebody over here will be able to help me out.

This plant (between the cordylines) is growing in Ghana. It's quite a big groundcover, spreading fast through underground runners.

ID #2 - SOLVED -

Again something from Ghana. I found it growing on the beach and it proved easy to propagate from seeds.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2006 8:34 AM

A close-up of #2

ID #3 - SOLVED -

Another one that I am growing from seeds. Unfortunately the mother plant was completely pruned down, so it doesn't show much.

This message was edited Jul 1, 2006 8:04 AM

This is a 3 month old seedling of #3, nearly 2 feet tall.

Any ID, anyone? Thanks.

Is number three Ipomoea carnea, (morning glory bush, morning glory tree)?

I can only vouch for #3. It does look like Ipomoea carnea.

Ipomoea carnea it most probably is (and I sure would be happy with it).

Thanks a lot. Anyone for # 1 and 2?

Could the first be an iris confusa? It travels underground.

#2 is possibly a Mandevilla, definatley in the Apocynaceae family.

ilima

# 2 could be a Melastoma of some kind?

#1 looks like a wierd iris I have...though the stalks are longer.

I don't know if #1 is an iris but it's definitely weird, each plant a single fan-shaped set of leafs. Somewhat like a giant hand protruding from the soil… I've never seen it flower.

#2 doesn’t look like any Mandevilla or Melastoma I found pictures of. Maybe another close-up will help.

Its funny, because I just bought my Cryptostegia Grandiflora friday, and I thought to myself - it reminded me of the plants that use to grow on the beach in Liberia where I grew up. Ghana is in the same neighborhood so to speak, I wonder if they may be related. Use to find seeds all over the beach in Monrovia.

Here is a picture- this one is a vine though- but there are similarities. Sometimes salt conditions from the ocean will impact the growth habit.

#2 is positively Cryptostegia (rubber vine), either C. grandiflora or C. madagascariensis.

From what I read, freestanding specimens grow shrublike and about 2 meters tall. When supported by other vegetation it can become an aggressive climber, growing 30 meters high and smothering everything it meets. In Australia Cryptostegia is one of the worst invasive weeds.

Thanks for identifying this one. I'll surely reconsider its position it the garden.

It's left with #1 now. Could this be a newly discovered species that will be named after me? :)

Your welcome, it helped that I grew up in Liberia.

Yes, I think number one probably will need to be named after you! I will dig around some more.
At this point I'm perplexed - even to what category the plant is.

Number one reminds me of sugar cane.. I have sugar cane in my garden, although I haven't seen maroon cane before-
let me make a trip to the PF.

oh..that was quick..who knew...do you think it is this
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/33217/
Purple Sugar Cane, Burgundy Sugar Cane, Black Magic
Saccharum officinarum

rj, wrong plant, the purple is Cordyline!

oh cool...thanks...I am hoping someone can help me i.d. a plant. I found some seeds from Liberia in my dearly departed Mom's stuff- So I thought why not..and tried to grow them although they were 35 plus years old. One did grow- It looks sort of mimosa like. I can remember a particular tree, that had very bright red blooms, and a long flat seed pod..don't remember what the seeds looked like. However the seed this tree/shrub grew from looked very much like a pinto bean, tan with brown speckles.

close up of the fronds.

woops...meant to send full size

Are you thinking of a royal poinciana tree? They have similar leaves with red blooms and the long legume bean seeds. Its about 60' high, if I remember correctly

That could be...let me make a trip to the plantfiles.

That last picture with the flat pods looks like Sesbania to me.

Yes, that is the closest so far, and the growth habit is the same! Thanks.
Ironic how some of the same species are found in Texas as Africa